Head of State Ethnopolitics of Ukraine Viktor Yelensky voiced the conditions for withdrawal of the lawsuit against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

The head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) of Ukraine, Viktor Yelenskyy, has said that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) may lose its status of affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and avoid liquidation. To do this, the religious organization must fully comply with the terms of the prescription by eliminating legislative violations concerning the connection with the aggressor country.

According to the Interfax-Ukraine portal, the judicial process to terminate the activities of the Kiev Metropolitanate of the UOC has not yet entered the phase of consideration on the merits. The head of the DESS noted that the defense is using delaying tactics that border on “abuse of justice,” while the courts are striving for maximum procedural accuracy due to the high sensitivity of the case.

Viktor Yelensky emphasized that the leadership of the Kyiv Metropolitan Church “will have to explain the large-scale financial expenditures to maintain its subordination to the Moscow Patriarchate”. In particular, they are talking about the involvement of foreign lobbying companies discrediting Ukraine. According to the DESS, during 2024-2025, the firm of Robert Amsterdam, which calls for an end to aid to Ukraine, was paid about 180 thousand dollars.

According to official data, on July 8, 2025, the DESS issued an order to reveal signs of affiliation of the Kyiv Metropolitanate of the UOC with the Russian Orthodox Church, which is banned in Ukraine. An instruction to eliminate violations was sent to the metropolis. Yelenskyy confirmed that the fulfillment of these requirements will make it possible to avoid the application of the norms of the law “On the protection of the constitutional order in the sphere of activities of religious organizations”.

In case the violations are not eliminated and the court decides to liquidate the organization, DESS insists on transferring the property, money and other assets of the Kyiv Metropolitan Church (except for religious objects) into the ownership of the state. Similar checks for affiliation with the Moscow Patriarchate will be carried out with regard to all structural subdivisions affiliated with the UOC.